When Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) becomes distracted from his duties on the Enterprise, he admits to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) that he's suffering from a crisis of faith for the Klingon traditions of honor and warrior spirit. Not one to accept less than full commitment to his officer duty, Picard suggests he go to the planet Borath where a gathering of Klingons engage in a vision quest to contact the legendary warrior Kahless, revered in their tradition. After repeated attempts, Kahless (Kevin Conway) suddenly appears not only to Worf, but materializes in physical form to the rest of the Guardians, led by Koroth (Alan Oppenheimer). Skeptical, Worf challenges Kahless with the bat'leth, who is only too happy to engage in a contest of strength. With Koroth and Worf convinced that Kahless is who he says he is, both are beamed back aboard the Enterprise where Dr. Crusher's (Gates McFadden) genetic tests confirm he's the real deal.
This was an intriguing story up to a point, that point being that someone dead for centuries couldn't supernaturally exist again. When Klingon High Council leader Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) arrived on Borath vehemently opposed to the notion that Kahless was really alive, his challenge was successful, forcing the truth to emerge that Kahless was a clone of the fabled Klingon warrior of ancient times. With Worf acting as mediator, he got both Koroth and Gowron to accept elevating Kahless to the title of Emperor, with no political or military power, thereby restoring honor to the Klingon culture and presumably preventing war among factions that might have seen him as the actual reincarnation. For all that went before, this seemed like a tepid solution for this viewer, considering what unintended consequences could have developed from making the situation widely known to the Klingon Empire. However, I did like the concept of the Sto-vo-kor, the Klingon concept of the afterlife for the honored dead.
This was an intriguing story up to a point, that point being that someone dead for centuries couldn't supernaturally exist again. When Klingon High Council leader Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) arrived on Borath vehemently opposed to the notion that Kahless was really alive, his challenge was successful, forcing the truth to emerge that Kahless was a clone of the fabled Klingon warrior of ancient times. With Worf acting as mediator, he got both Koroth and Gowron to accept elevating Kahless to the title of Emperor, with no political or military power, thereby restoring honor to the Klingon culture and presumably preventing war among factions that might have seen him as the actual reincarnation. For all that went before, this seemed like a tepid solution for this viewer, considering what unintended consequences could have developed from making the situation widely known to the Klingon Empire. However, I did like the concept of the Sto-vo-kor, the Klingon concept of the afterlife for the honored dead.